AIG slips into red, posts $2.7 bn quarterly loss

Slumping into the red, American International Group (AIG) has posted a second quarter loss of $2.7 billion, due to a massive charge on its discontinued operations.

AIG, which survived the financial meltdown with American taxpayers' money, had raked in a profit of $1.8 billion in the year-ago period.

"The second quarter, 2010, loss was primarily due to a $3.3 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge included in discontinued operations," it said in a statement today.

The impairment charge was related to AIG's foreign life insurance business Alico, which is to be sold to MetLife for about $15 billion.

For the three months ended June, the group's total revenues fell to $19.9 billion from 23.9 billion in the same period a year ago.

In signs of improving business activities, AIG's continuing insurance operations earned a profit of $2.2 billion in the June quarter. In the comparable period, the same stood at $1.5 billion.

"AIG's continuing insurance operating results remain solid... We remain focused on monetising AIA (another foreign life insurance business) and Alico as quickly as possible in order to repay taxpayers," AIG President and CEO Robert H Benmosche said.